RF govt presidium to consider forming comsn on HPP emergency.

MOSCOW, August 20 (Itar-Tass) - One of the key items on the agenda of
the Russian government's meeting on Thursday will be the formation of the governmental commission on the liquidation of the aftermath of the
Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant's accident and the organisation of the work aimed at ensuring reliable power supply to consumers in Siberia.
It is noted in the meeting's materials that RF Deputy Energy Minister
Anatoly Yanovsky will deliver a report on this matter. Energy Minister
Sergei Shmatko is at the accident site and is taking part in the work of
the emergency response headquarters.
The government's commission is to be created on instruction from
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and in accordance with orders of Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin. It was announced earlier that Vice Prime Minister
Igor Sechin who is in charge of energy issues in the government, will head
the commission.
Shmatko has already called what has happened at Russia's largest
hydroelectric station "the largest and most incomprehensible emergency in
the world."
An interdepartmental commission is currently probing into the
emergency, and before it summarises some results, nobody has the right to
make any conclusions, he said admitting that "sometimes irresponsible
statements are made." "It is the largest and most incomprehensible
emergency in the world," the minister said. He noted that the "weight of
the torn off turbine cover is 800 tonnes, and we don't understand the
nature of this phenomenon." Shmatko believes that first of all
specialists, and not only from the RusHydro (the plant's operator) should
now conduct investigation at the plant.
The tragedy on the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP took place on August 17 at
08:13, local time (04:13, Moscow time). The plant's second power unit was
totally destroyed, as well as the better part of two other units. From 10
units installed at the plant one may be put into operation in the near
future - hydroelectric unit No 6 that at the moment of the accident was
under scheduled maintenance and received no electrical damage. It is hard
to assess the condition of other units until water is fully pumped out of
the inundated turbine room and the technological expert examination is
conducted. The HPP with the rated capacity of 6.5 thousand megawatts has
been totally put out of operation.
According to latest information, 14 people have been killed in the
accident and 62 are missing. These are workers of the hydropower plant
that were inside the station's turbine room during the emergency. The
search and rescue efforts are continuing round the clock at the plant.
According to different estimates, the pumping out of water and rescue
operations may take from 3 to 8 days.
The emergencies and energy ministers have called against making
premature conclusions about the causes of the tragedy. "This work will
take not one day, not one hour," Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu
stressed.
Due to the emergency in Siberia where many large industrial
enterprises are located, the electric power deficit has emerged. Thanks to
promptly taken measures to increase the workload of heat power plants in
the region and other hydroelectric stations in Siberia, the situation has
been normalised. The Energy Ministry has pledged that power supply to
consumers in Siberia is unrestricted from 16:30, Moscow time, on August
17. However, the accident will correct plans aimed at the preparation of
the region's generating capacities for the coming autumn and winter
period. Shmatko promised that the Energy Ministry will transfer to the
directive management of repairs of energy companies of Siberia. "This
accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP has seriously changed the repairs
plans, both in terms of the time and volumes," the minister specified.
"The preparation for the autumn period will be prompt and even of
emergency nature," the minister admitted. "The Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP
accident is a system emergency, and within the framework of earlier set
tasks the Energy Ministry is preparing the scenario conditions for the
winter and spring period," he said earlier. According to Shmatko,
according to preliminary estimates, the electricity tariffs for end
consumers in Siberia will grow due to the emergency by 5-7 percent,
according to an optimistic forecast.
At 8:13, local time (0013 GMT) on 17 August 2009, tentatively a
transformer explosion caused water ducts 3 and 4 to collapse, flooding the
station's powerhouse. Aluminium smelters in Sayanogorsk and Khakassia were
completely cut off from the grid. A spokesman for RUSAL said the
Sayanogorsk smelter continued to operate at normal capacity, using
alternative power sources. However, smelters in Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo and
Novokuznetsk operated at reduced capacity. Another version sugegsts that
the power plant accident was caused by a hydraulic shock. According to an
RBC Information Systems report as of 8:00 Moscow time, later confirmed by
Shoigu, there was no imminent danger of flooding to the downstream town of
Cheryomushki. Trading in RusHydro shares at London Stock Exchange was
suspended, after a 13 percent drop in the share price. The station
normally provides 25 percent of RusHydro output.
The final sum of the damage from the HPP emergency has not been named
yet. According to the HPP owner - RusHydro, the sum may amount to several
dozen billion of roubles.
-0-ezh